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Judges 21:1-25; Isaiah 40:1-31; 1 Corinthians 16:1-24

It happened after a while that the brook dried up, because there had been no rain in the land. 1 Kings 17:7 NKJV

Elijah didn’t panic when the brook dried up, because God was his source, not the brook. So many times we look to people, prosperity, possessions or pleasure as our source for preservation, instead of God. Elijah didn’t try to replace the source himself, but waited on God. When the time came, God sent him to a widow’s home, and used Elijah to sustain her family, even raising her son from the dead! When we let God be our source, miracles will happen. Trust
Him for what you need today! —Deborah Manera

The greatest challenge in receiving great things from God
is holding on for the last half hour. ?L. B. E. Cowman

Judges 20:1-48; Isaiah 38:1-39:8; 1 Corinthians 15:35-58

Christ Jesus…took upon him the form of a servant.  Philippians 2:5, 7

The “form of a servant” lies in a manger: a dependent human, displaying mankind’s essence, although holy. He could not cease to be God by descending into humanity. He will not cease to be man, although ascended to heaven (John 17:5). Taking “the form of a servant”, He served God, delighting to do His will (Ps. 40:8; Heb. 10:7). He is all that God intended man to be—to resemble God and serve as His representative, bringing creation into subjection (Gen.
1:26-28). This Man will accomplish that and much more (1 Cor. 15:28). May God by His grace transform us to become more like Him, servants of God. — David W. Oliver

Verily God, yet become truly human,
Lower than angels to die in our stead.  —Henry Champney

Judges 19:1-30; Isaiah 37:8-38; 1 Corinthians 15:1-34

Now a certain man was sick, named Lazarus, of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha. John 11:1

It is not a sin to be sick, nor does it mean that the sick one is outside the will of God. Epaphroditus was “sick nigh unto death: but God had mercy on him” (Phil. 2:27). Trophimus was “left at Miletum sick” (2 Tim. 4:20). Indeed Timothy, the man of God, was marked by stomach problems and “often infirmities” (1 Tim. 5:23). Sickness is part of a creation that is groaning. God’s dealings with us are for His glory and are often a part of His training program for His people (Heb. 12:11). —L. Cain

My times are in Thy hand;
Whatever they may be;
Pleasing or painful, dark or bright,
As best may seem to Thee. —W. F. Lloyd

Judges 17:1-18:31; Isaiah 36:1-37:7; 1 Corinthians 14:1-40

Whatever He says to you, do it. John 2:5 NKJV

The wine had run out at the wedding reception! Mary’s last recorded words were wisely heeded by the servants. However, think of how easily those servants could have rationalized their way out of obeying Jesus’s command. “Fill them with…water? They ran out of wine, not water!” “Wine takes time. And we don’t have time to waste!” “You want us to carry enough water to fill those six waterpots—about 120 gallons?” On and on those servants could have argued that Jesus’s way of doing things made no sense. But instead, they simply obeyed. And as they did, the miracle happened. And so it will be for us. What command is Jesus directing your heart to obey today? “Whatever He
says, do it”, and He will bless. —Brian Cretney

Trust and obey, for there’s no other way,
To be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey. —John H. Sammis

Judges 16:1-31; Isaiah 35:1-10; 1 Corinthians 13:1-13

But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us. Titus 3:4-5 NKJV

The kindness and the love of God our Saviour appeared. What a beautiful interruption in our lives! Once depraved and enslaved by our sins (v. 3), according to His mercy, He saved us. The defining moment of every genuine Christian’s life is this memorable occasion when He saves us. Gratitude overflows from a heart that has experienced this kindness and love of God. Without such a conscious moment, no one is received into God’s family (Jn. 1:12).
Have you come to Him? —Peter Ramsay

Thank you, Lord, for saving my soul, thank you, Lord, for making me whole;
Thank you, Lord, for giving to me, Thy great salvation so rich and free.  —S. Sykes

Judges 14:1-15:20; Isaiah 34:1-17; 1 Corinthians 12:1-31

And all the people that heard him, and the publicans, justified God, being baptized with the baptism of John. But the Pharisees and lawyers rejected the counsel of God against themselves, being not baptized of him. Luke 7:29-30

Often the unconverted will say they are too sinful for God to save. They want to clean up their life before they come to Jesus. Here publicans, who were considered vile and degraded, received the message of repentance. Both the Pharisees who were respectable and outwardly religious and the lawyers—ones who knew the law of Moses, refused the message. Nobody is too sinful that Christ cannot save them. Repent and come to Him today. —K.J.W.

Only trust Him! Only trust Him! Only trust Him now!
He will save you! He will save you! He will save you now! —John Hart Stockton

Judges 13:1-25; Isaiah 33:1-24; 1 Corinthians 11:2-34

And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it. Jeremiah 18:4

God wants to mold our lives into beautiful vessels which glorify Him. If we rebel and harden our hearts to His loving guidance, He may need to “re-work us”, as a potter applies pressure to the clay in order to remold it. He may use such things as job loss, sickness, pain, the death of a loved one, so that He can make us over again. Always remember He loves us and wants the very best for us. —David Croudace

Have Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine own way!
Thou art the Potter, I am the clay.
Mold me and make me after Thy will,
While I am waiting, yielded and still. —A.A. Pollard

Judges 11:29-12:15; Isaiah 32:1-20; 1 Corinthians 10:14-11:1

And the angel said unto him, Gird thyself, and bind on thy sandals. And so he did. And he saith unto him, Cast thy garment about thee, and follow me. Acts 12:8

Where human endeavour cannot succeed, God often intervenes and performs the impossible. However Scripture shows us that the Lord expects us to help ourselves and help others where we can. God could have seen to it that the miracle included “suiting and booting” Peter, but Peter was able to do that himself. When Lazarus (John 11) came out of the sepulchre, the Lord asked his loved ones to “Loose him, and let him go”. The Lord loves to include His own when He forms a divine work and we cannot afford to be lazy. —Brian Russell

He sustains you by His hand, He enables you to stand;
Those whom Jesus once hath loved, from His grace are never moved.  —Rowland Hills Psalms and Hymns

Judges 10:6-11:28; Isaiah 31″1-9; 1 Corinthians 9:24-10:13

For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. 2 Corinthians 4:16

This fallen world’s sufferings are temporary; believers’ blessings will be eternal in the Father’s house. God sovereignly uses trials, which the much-tested apostle called “light afflictions”, as part of our sanctification, conforming us to the Lord’s image. Like a master surgeon skillfully wielding a scalpel, he employs all of life’s good and bad experiences to conform us to Christ’s image. This raised Paul’s perspective to turn from the temporal to the eternal. Likewise, we take the long view looking to the glorified Lord, as we await His return. —Keith R. Keyser

Every year we thought was wasted, every night we cried ‘How long?’
All will be a passing moment, in our Saviour’s vict’ry song.  —Wendell Kimbrough

Judges 9-10:5; Isaiah 30:1-33; 1 Corinthians 9:1-23

Art thou he that should come, or do we look for another? Matthew 11:3

John the Baptist was a rugged individual, well used to the wide desert places. With Spirit filled power, he had proclaimed a powerful message of repentance and crowds flocked to hear him. Now confined to a prison cell, he began to doubt. He must have wondered whether he had achieved anything, as he could only look forward to more imprisonment and probable execution. He started to doubt the reality of Jesus as the Messiah. Doubt is  understandable but doubt is swept away by overwhelming evidence and that was what Jesus gave as He described the miracles He performed and the powerful message He delivered. —Paul Young

When doubts and fears arise, teach me Thy way!
When storms o’erspread the skies, teach me Thy way! —B.M. Ramsey